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Siege of Tucumcari
The Siege of Tucumcari was a major battle in the Llano-Legion War and the NCR-Legion War that took place in 2283 in the city Tucumcari in the former US state of New Mexico. After NCR forces liberated Taos and Santa Fe, they made contact with the forces of the Llano Confederation as they advanced north along the pre-war Interstate 25 towards the city of Raton, former New Mexico, which controlled the strategic Raton Pass leading into Colorado. After contact was made, the Llano Assembly voted to send a force of 1000 men from the Llano Army to support the NCR and Allied siege of Raton. From April 29th until May 3rd 2283, Llano forces fought alongside NCR and allied troops to take the city of Raton. With the city of Raton taken, NCR forces turned their attention to cities along I-40 west of Santa Fe, the first taken being Santa Rosa on May 29th. With NCR forces advancing on Tucumcari from the west, the Llano Confederation approved of sending a larger force of 4300 men, mostly from the garrisons of Amarillo, Lubbock, and surrounding towns to attack Tucumcari from the east and surround the city. The NCR, Republic of New Mexico, and Llano agreed that, in exchange of for their support, the NCR and Republic of New Mexico would honor Llano claims on lands formerly in the pre-war state of New Mexico that were now Llano territory (namely Clayton and Capulin and the surrounding area), and that the border between Llano would be marked by the western border of the easternmost counties of pre-war New Mexico. This territory would include Tucumcari. Taking the Forts The Legion defenders of Tucumcari were divided between about 2000 men in the city, and 1000 soldiers divided between two major fortifications guarding Interstate 40, Tucumcari Mountain located to the south of the city, and Mesa del Puerta, known to the Legion as mensa porta in the Legion Latin dialect, located to the east of the city. The fort at Tucumcari Mountain was the largest, located on a prominent mesa to the south of town. The mountain consisted of two flat mesatops in a concentric "stair-step" pattern, separated by cliffs. The summit was accessed by a pre-war road that could still be traversed, and four 155mm and six 105mm howitzers has been dragged up to the summit and placed in dug-in positions, The guns were stationed to allow them to be fire in any direction, with the heaviest firepower being aimed to the northeast, towards the 30-mile wide no-man's land between Legion and Llano territory, in which neither side entered for fear of being in range of the other's gun positions. The mountain was also fortified with smaller positions for mortars and machine guns, as well as spikes and barbed wire as anti-personnel obstacles. The fortifications on Mesa del Puerta were more spread out, with the westernmost fort consisting of two 105mm guns on the mesatop aimed at the Interstate, as well as mortar and machine gun nests, as well as a second heavier layer of defenses on another set of mesas and hills that surrounded the pre-war highway to the east of Mesa del Puerta. This second later had a total of six guns of 105 or 155mm caliber, multiple mortars, two of the few pre-war armored vehicles the Legion controlled, as well as multiple machine guns, mortars, and rocket launcher positions. These two forts were the first targets of the allied assault. Tucumcari Mountain would be the target of the Amarillo "Old Guard" Brigade, the successor to an old Texas National Guard unit who held most of the surviving pre-war armored vehicles, as well as mechanized elements the Lubbock Guard Brigade. The Mesa del Puerta forts would be the targets of the NCR 4th Mechanized Brigade, as well as the attached Mechanized and Armored Companies of the New Mexico 2nd Brigade and the Arizona Republic 4th Brigade. Before the attack, started at around 0630 hours on June 7th, NCR and allied air forces launched bombing, rocket, and strafing attacks on the forts of Tucumcari Mountain and Mesa del Puerta, followed by an artillery barrage starting at 0700 hours, continuing to the fast-moving mechanized units reached within about mile of the forts. As the artillery barrage was halted, the allied vehicles maneuvered to attack their respective targets, using the flat terrain to their full advantage, moving to the south of the forts, where Legion defenses were the lightest. Tucumcari Mountain At a distance of about five miles from the mountain, the Llano army forces maneuvered to the south in a staggered formation to minimize the impact of any artillery fire. As the artillery barrage ended as the Llano reached about one mile, they came under relatively light, inaccurate artillery fire from the one surviving 105mm gun that could be trained on the incoming Llano forces, as well several infantry mortars. The 20 tanks under Llano control, mostly older M60 models fired their main guns, eight of them stopping to deliver longer-range fire, targeting any muzzle flashes visible from the Legion positions, while the rest advanced. The heavy machine guns, recoilless rifles, and light cannon mounted on the technicals and APCs added their firepower to the assault, suppressing or knocking out Legion positions. While three trucks were destroyed and 26 men were killed by the incoming fire, but within five minutes of the end of the Llano barrage, the Llano infantry dismounted at ranges of between 100 and 300 meter of the mountain, under covering fire of the tanks and APCs, which blew holes in the barricades along the side of the mountain. The Llano vehicles suppressed the Legion positions with machine gun fire as the Llano infantry advanced up two relatively gentle slopes on the south side of the mountain. At a distance of about 100 or so meters from the summit, Llano vehicles were forced to cease fire on the lower Legion positions for fear of friendly fire. By this point, however, Llano infantry armed with LMGs, grenade launchers, and rocket launchers were able to suppress the Legion forces and target surviving machine gun nests. By this point, the surviving Legion mortars, as well as the guns and mortars on the south side were abandoned by the ballistarii manning them, who joined the infantry in the attempt to hold back the Llano forces. Fighting on the lower ledge of Tucumcari Mountain was fierce, with the remaining Legionaries fighting practically to the last man at close ranges. By 730 hours, however, Llano Army forces had reached the summit of the mountain. With the pre-war dirt road to the summit in Llano hands, six Llano army tanks drove up the road to fire down on Legion positions in the town of Tucumcari between 1.5 and 4 miles away. In the battle for Tucumcari Mountain, Llano suffered 51 KIA and 112 WIA, as well as four vehicles destroyed. The Legion suffered 124 killed direct combat and 391 killed by the aerial and artillery barrage. Only 43 Legionaries survived to surrender, most with wounds of varying severity. Mesa del Puerta After many of the heavy weapons were disabled by NCR Air Forces and fire from Arizonan and New Mexican artillery in the previous weeks, the NCR, New Mexican, and Arizonan armies were tasked with attacking the city western defenses of Tucumcari on June 7th, starting their attack at around 0630 hours in conjunction with the Llano assault on Tucumcari Mountain. The first target was fort on a mesa known as Mesa del Puerta or "Mensa Porta" by the Legion, which overlooked the pre-war highway Interstate 40. All but one of the heavy artillery guns had been disabled as NCR and allied armor and mechanized infantry advanced, spearheaded by 30 NCR and 12 Arizonan tanks. Most of the NCR forces attacked along the Interstate while the Arizonans and New Mexicans flanked to the south. As they advanced, NCR tanks and mortars fired on Mesa del Puerta, quickly suppressing the other guns and remaining weapons. The mechanized forces maneuvered around to the rear of the mesa, dismounting from their trucks and pre-war APCs making their way to the summit, the NCR taking the northeastern end of the summit, while the Arizonans attacked the southwest summit of the mesa. Some Legion defenders surrendered, but about 40 kept fighting and were killed in battle. Only 9 allied soldiers were killed in the attack, and Mesa del Puerta was taken by 0700 hours. After taking Mesa del Puerta, the next part of the western defenses of Tucumcari consisted of more Legion positions on a series of low hills and mesas, including the four dug-in pre-war tanks and several artillery guns and mortars, as well as about 500 Legionaries. Whiles these were damaged by air and artillery fire, many of the the defenses remained intact. NCR Standard Artillery Rockets and Arizonan and New Mexican howitzers fired on the Legion defenses and armor and mechanized forces as they advanced on the hills. By the time allied forces reached within about a kilometer of the hills, the barrage halted. Two Legion tanks and three artillery guns, however, remained, and fired down on the allied forces. Three vehicles, all of the improvised fighting vehicles were destroyed and 26 infantry by the Legion fire before more accurate counterattacks by NCR and Arizonan tanks put them out of action. With the heavy weapons disabled, the APCs that held the vanguard of the infantry advanced along with the tanks, engaging machine gun nest and snipers while the infantry unloaded at a distance of about a hundred or so meters from the hillsides. While one M113 APC was disabled by a Legionary with a pre-war missile launcher, they could not hold back the assault of the NCR heavy forces forever. By this point, the NCR armor had cleared the heaviest defenses, allowing the Arizonan and New Mexican mechanized forces, mostly in improvised vehicles constructed for pre-war civilian trucks, to safely unload and join the fight. Even with their heavy weapons destroyed, there remained over 250 Legionaries that survived. The resistance they presented was highly variable. In some areas, allied infantry ran into Veteran Legionaries that had served in the Legion since the glory days of the 2250s, and were thoroughly indoctrinated. These veterans fought to the last man, charging with melee weapons when they ran out of ammunition. In other areas, Legion forces consisted mostly of recruits recently conscripted from the Tucumcari area. These would quickly lose cohesion as soon as the Centurions and Decanii were killed- NCR forces had long used the tactic of aiming for the officers to cause chaos in the Legion ranks. With their commanders gone, many of the more recently conscripted members of the Legion quickly surrendered. In the battle for the western defenses of Tucumcari, 269 Legionaries were killed in action, and most of the remainder were taken prisoner, many with wounds of varying severity. In all, 46 allied troops were killed and 71 wounded. By 0800 hours, the Legion defenses west of the town were overrun, and the Legion troops in the city were trapped between the NCR and allies force to the west and the Llano army to the east. Fighting in the City Aftermath Category:Battles Category:Events